Book # 41 CARRIE By: Stephen King

I'd never had a desire to read this book until I read On Writing- a memoir/writing manual by Stephen King. In On Writing King wrote about how this idea came to him and a bit about the two girls he went to high school with who were loose prototypes for Carrie (and both happened to meet young, tragic deaths themselves). Upon hearing this, I was hooked.

For those who are unfamiliar with the book or the subsequent classic horror film. Carrie is about a girl who's teased and tortured in high school who comes to learn that she has telekinetic powers much to the dismay of her religious zealot mother.

As much as I hate it when I mention film adaptations in these reviews, I MUST throw it out there that the book is a ZILLION times better than the film. For one the book is set up (like so many of my favorites) with a mixture of narrative, police reports, and interviews. While the narrative moves along steadily, interviews and reports of the horrific events that eventually take place are woven in building heavy suspense for an explosive ending. And- speaking of the ending- the movie tones down the catastrophic destruction that Carrie causes. It is in one fictional report mentioned that the two biggest events in the 20th century were JFK's assassination and the mass destruction on Carrie White's prom night. Not only are classmates killed at the prom, but an entire town is more or less burned to the ground.

If someone were to ask you who the secondary lead character was-after watching the film, most would say Carrie's mother, Margaret. In the book I would say the second lead is Carrie's classmate Sue Snell which I liked so much better (though in the defense of the film, I can see if you're making a horror movie, an abusive religious nut is a character you want to amp up). The degree to which King lets us into the heads of Carrie's classmates is a brilliant way to see all angles of Carrie.

Describing his feelings of his first published novel Stephen King has said:

"I'm not saying that Carrie is shit and I'm not repudiating it. She made me a star, but it was a young book by a young writer. In retrospect it reminded me of a cookie baked by a first grader- tasty enough, but kind of lumpy and burned at the bottom."

With all do respect, Mr. King. While Carrie is indeed popular fiction and not "literary fiction" as some reviewers might say- I think you baked a tastier cookie than you think.

A

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SIDE NOTE: For those who enjoy Stephen King writing character cameos from his other works- Teddy Duchamp of The Body is mentioned in Carrie.